Violet Hill
by The Silver Forest
Summary: Post-OOTP. Dumbledore leaves the castle on his to replace the Instruments Harry broke at the end of his 5th Year. Little does he know that this little excursion will cost him his weapon against Voldemort. Features: Jelous Ron, (Maybe) Demented Ginny and Molly, Manipulative Dumbledore and a Harry that actually gives a rats arse! Undoubtedly HHr (although eventual)
1. Thoughts of a Man

Title: Violet Hill

Disclaimer:

British? Yes

Female? No

Mind Bogglingly Rich? I wish!

Probability of being JK Rowling? 1%

I don't own anything but the plot

**Chapter 1: Thoughts of a man**

Dumbledore apparated outside the wall separating the Leakey Cauldron from Diagon Alley with a soft 'crack'. _Must be silent next time _he thought to himself. He deftly cast a disillusionment charm on himself followed by a notice-me not charm. _It wouldn't do for the "leader of the light" to be seen walking into knockturn alley _he justified to himself. He quickly tapped the required bricks of the wall and set off into the crowded street, slowly but surely making his way towards the darkened corner the housed the entrance to the foreboding knockturn alley.

_Potter, _he cursed to himself quietly, still not wanting to draw any attention. _If that boy had even a modicum of self-control he'd be perfect, no rash running off to the ministry to save his Godforsaken godfather, no immature strops destroying priceless instruments. At least he didn't get the pensieve _Dumbledore mused to himself. _I guess this will have to come out of the Potter account... After all he did break those instruments and he has to learn the consequences of his actions. That reminds me; I'll have to stop off at Gringotts and renew the address to forward Harry's bank statements. _Feeling he has justified himself he entered the shop named "Malvoisie and Mangrove Magical Mechanisms", a shop he had only entered once before, almost 16 years ago.

_**5 minutes previously,**_

Not too far away, in the head goblin's office at Gringotts, Ragnok looked up to see an anxious goblin enter the chambers carrying a letter. "Let me have the worst" Ragnok said in a calm, scratchy voice. The young goblin straightened up and looked Ragnok in the eye, before depositing the note on the counter.

Ragnok sighed as the goblin left the room. Curious at the note he picked it up and slit it open with this dagger. His eyebrows would have jumped, had he any eyebrows, but his surprise was evident all the same. _No time to loose..._ He thought as he quick marched from his office to the floor of the bank. _Today will truly be... Interesting if we succeed. _Having been played thoroughly by the old man over the last 10 years, the goblin race was about to knock him down a peg or two. Albus Dumbledore would indeed, rue the day he took over the Potter accounts from its rightful heir. Unbeknownst to the Headmaster, who was fawning over the new array of instruments laid out in front of him, a determined owl named Eargit streaked through the sky, due course: Little Whinging.

Harry Potter lay on his small bed in his box room in the Dursley's house, Number 4, Privet Drive. His bedroom cluttered from the many failed apology notes he meant to send to his friends that lay discarded on the floor. He contemplated what had happened at the end of last year, wondering what his friends would say, that was his only concern at the moment; _would they forgive him?_ Not a second later, he heard a small tapping at the window, Hedwig had returned from her hunt. Harry quickly opened the window and slumped back onto his bed. Instead of flying back to her cage though, she landed swiftly on the small square table where his wand and a few school books lay open, and held her leg out. 2 minutes passed, Harry hadn't moved from his despondent position so she clicked her beak and barked, thoroughly annoyed. Harry was raised out of his stupor and quickly detached the note form her leg, so she could fly back into her cage. Looking at the note, he recognized Hermione's neat handwriting adorning the surface of the envelope. With trembling hands he opened it, before he could even try to face the horrors that lay within, another snowy owl swooped through the window landing nearly on the table. Harry had never seen this owl before and carefully took the thick parchment that it carried. The owl didn't move after that so he proceeded to read the letter it had brought, willing to put as much time between himself and Hermione's letter.

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_We would like to make our yearly request for review of your accounts here are Gringotts. It would be most helpful if you were to send your reply with Eargit, the Gringotts Owl. If you wish to discuss your accounts, we will send a portkey to you, activated at your earliest convenience._

_Wishing you well and hoping to hear from you soon,_

_Griphook_

_Senior Teller_

_Gringotts Bank_

He quickly scrawled a note and attached it to Eargit's leg before he took off once more heading towards Gringotts. Harry lay down in his bed once more, his heart throbbing deeply, almost painfully in his chest. Suddenly he sat up and put the pain out of his mind, it was time to face Hermione's letter.

_Harry,_

_I truly hope you are well, I understand that you can't be taking Sirius' death too well, but listen to me Harry, you will get through this, don't lock me out, don't lock Ron out. We want to help you. _

_AND NO WE DON'T BLAME YOU FOR WHAT HAPPENED! I should have seen it, I should have been stronger Harry, I'm sorry I let you down. Don't beat yourself up about me getting hurt Harry, it was completely my fault. Nor does ANYONE blame you for Sirius' death. If anyone is to blame it's Voldemort!_

_Please write back soon Harry, you're beginning to worry me. (Then again, when do you not worry me?)_

_Love,_

_Hermione_

Harry looked up, a look of complete relief on his face spread across his face. He still couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty, the pain in his chest returned and he scratched it absent mindedly.

Harry sat up from his bed to stare out of the window, watching the clouds roll by. _The day is still young._ He mused to himself. Suddenly, Harry pulled his trunk from the corner of his room, invigorated by the letter from Gringotts and the forgiveness he received from Hermione. Pulling his books he began to read, open-minded and found himself absorbing the information at an alarming rate. By the end of the day, he had zipped through the DADA course of 5 years, and had committed it to memory and was already half-way through Charms, although he'd have to wait until he next saw Hermione to actually test his retention.

Later in the evening, Eargit swooped through the once again, open window carrying a small envelope with a slight bulge in the bottom. _YEARLY MEETINGS! _Harry realized _this is the first I've heard about this! _Harry fumed. He picked through the note that came with the portkey.

_Mr Potter,_

_As requested we have enclosed your portkey and have been able to authorize travel from your home. Please use the portkey at any time tomorrow to visit Gringotts. We will provide you with a return key upon completion of your business at Gringotts._

_May your Gold flow freely._

_Griphook_

_Senior Teller_

_Gringotts._

Harry lay down in bed, unable to contain his excitement. As he drifted off there was a sharp pain in his chest, but dismissed as he closed his eyes.

A/N: Hello world. This is my first FanFiction. Reviews welcome and actually appreciated. I will try to respond to all of them in my next update. As to Updates, don't expect them too frequently up until the end of June; I do have Exams! I am in need of a Beta as you can probably tell from this chapter and am willing to accept most anyone. Ideas are welcome since I can't think of everything. And Yes Eargit is a tribute to one of my Favourite Stories by robst, Harry Crow.

Me out!


	2. Of Breaking Bindings and Feral Grins

Disclaimer:

British? Yes

Female? No

Mind Bogglingly Rich? I wish!

Probability of being JK Rowling? 1%

I don't own anything but the plot

Chapter 2: Of Breaking Bindings and Feral Grins

Harry awoke early the next morning, eager to set off to Gringotts as soon as possible. Silently, he stole downstairs, avoiding the step that creaked; not wishing to wake the Dursleys just yet, and began to cook the meal he was forced to.

Twenty minutes of sizzling fat and cracked eggshells later, he lay the three finished dishes on the table, covering them with extra plates to stop them getting cold. Slowly, he opened the back door into the garden and began attacking the weeds that surrounded the plants Petunia seemed to cherish so much. _Probably since she makes me look after them and do all the hard work, _Harry thought silently.

Harry wandered back inside, quickly setting a piece of toast in the toaster, and eating it on his way back to his room. Absentmindedly, he walked up the stairs, before realizing what he was about to step on. The step creaked loudly and Harry snapped his head up, looking and listening for any sign of any Dursley. Thankfully there was none. He stalked back to his room and decided he could do with a little more sleep.

Harry awoke again at 9AM, despite only having slept for two hours he felt invigorated. He fumbled slightly with the envelope and slowly pulled out the golden band. _A ring? _Harry thought to himself. He slipped it on and immediately saw the world spin around him. Shifting colours and a multitude of voices seemed to bank around his ears and eyes. Until the world came to a blissful stop.

Harry looked up cautiously, surveying his surroundings, until he realized he was in a very homely office. He quietly sat down on the sofa and waited patiently. His eyes snapped to the doors as they were pulled open, Harry stood and looked at the small creature that stalked through the door and into the office.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Just who I'd been waiting to see, glad you could make it. Now shall we get down to business?" he said curtly. "Please, call me Harry-" he looked up abruptly, looking at the boy again. "Err… Is there a problem?" Harry politely enquired. "Oh, No not at all M- Harry." The goblin smiled at Harry, or at least that's what Harry thought he was doing.

"Down to Business I assume Harry?" Griphook said passing Harry a large sheaf of documents. "This is the Inheritance you will receive from your parents. This," he said handing Harry another, larger sheaf, "is from your godfather"

Harry opened the documents and exclaimed on shock "What!" After a cursory glance at the first one. The ancient and noble house of Potter was indeed... Eccentric. His eyes only widened as he look as Sirius' will. Any reminder of his godfather was still raw and painful, he may never get used to that fact... He was gone.

Harry continued to look through his various properties, Jewels, and investments. From the previous years, it looked like the investments would allow him to simply live off his interest for the rest of his life, and thereafter as well! Harry scratched his chest absentmindedly, while engrossed by the documents in front of him.

"Harry-" Griphook said tentatively, very stange for a Goblin. Harry's head snapped up to look at the Goblin. "Yes?" he replied, just as quietly. "Have you been experiencing any pain in your chest? Recently or otherwise?"

"Errm… Yes actually now I think about it. Why? Is it important? What's going on? What does it me-" Harry rambled, becoming worried.

"Harry please stop! All we have to do is take a sample of your blood and we shall determine what is happening. Is that acceptable?" Griphook said calmly. Harry nodded, not trusting his voice to answer for him. He watched as Griphook drew his short blade a dragged it across his hand drawing a thin line of blood from his palm. After corking a phial of his blood Griphook pulled his finger across the boy's hand and watched as small amounts of steam rose from the freshly healed cut. He politely asked Harry to wait here while he tested the blood.

Harry couldn't tell if minutes or hours passed while he anxiously waited for Griphook's return. His eyes slowly wandered around the exquisite office, looking at the masterfully crafted table, filled with carvings and saw the deep mahogany inlaid with gold that spiraled and swirled. Just then the mahogany doors flew open, as Griphook returned from the test chambers, in the wake of another, more important looking Goblin. Harry immediately rose from his seat on the sofa and looked the powerful goblin in the eye, not daring to blink. "Well met Mr. Potter," he said in a raspy voice that sounded like gravel. _What's going on here?_ Harry asked himself as he felt the atmosphere relax as the goblin spoke his first words. "I am Director Ragnok, the Head Goblin at Gringotts. It truly is a pleasure to meet you at last. Griphook has told me you were experiencing a recent pain in your chest as well a long term one in your scar, the results of the blood test have proven two of our most feared theories correct, and have also brought up a new slightly less pressing dilemma. Of course, it is in the best interest of the bank to help our largest customer, so we are willing to help you with all three problems for the sum of 50 Galleons."

"Errm… could you tell me what the problems are, I still don't really know what you're talking about,"

"Ah, my apologies Mr. Potter, the first problem you have is your scar. It seems there is a soul fragments wedged in your scar, this is what has been causing the pain, as well as headaches or other head related issues, such as lack of concentration or sloth. Second, and I realize this may come as a shock, but it appears that your magic has been bound-"

"WHAT!" Harry exclaimed "BOUND? BY WHO?"

"Mr. Potter please, this is a place of work, shouting is not necessary." Harry hung his head and mumbled a sincere apology, "Now, this type of magic is forbidden, especially on the use of a minor. The traces in the blood show the bindings have been in place since, approximately 14 years.-"

"But that's when Dumbledore sent me to the Dursleys! You can't seriously mean… Dumbledore… place those bonds…Made me weak…" he finished lamely. "Mr. Potter, we find it very likely that the headmaster has placed these bindings upon you, since this is a very complex magical art, very few are capable of such power and even fewer still have the required skill to perform it to the extent at which it has been performed upon you."

"Let me guess, Dumbledore is one such person?"

"Actually, that is not the only evidence we have of his hand in this, Mr. Potter. The Goblin Arithmancy we performed on the blood showed us that the caster was Professor Dumbledore. The magical signatures matched with the one he registered to his account at that time, so we are certain that Dumbledore was the one who left you at the Dursleys, and restricted you to your lowest potential. Moving on, the third problem we encountered, was an illegal potion that has entered your blood stream. A Love Potion, Mr. Potter." He saw Harry's mouth begin to open in protest but quickly continued, "We know not who this potion is keyed to, since this particular potion draws attention to the features of the girl or boy in question. The ingredients showed up as: Mytuble Root- Bright Brown Eyes, Fantial Fungus – Large contrast between hair and skin, Novetus leaf – Nice skin and finally Gargainion petals – Crimson Hair. Mr. Potter, do you know anyone that matches this description?" Harry paled, he knew since the word crimson had been uttered. _Surely not. Not Ginny? _He asked himself, _She _did_ lose interest rather quickly_ his newly emerged logical side reasoned. Harry nodded and said "But I don't want to do anything too rash. Can you let me figure this out, and contact you; should any measured need to be taken?" Both goblins looked at him, impressed by the young man's tenacity and endeavor and swiftly nodded. "The problem Harry, is that the potion can act while dormant as well as active. It stays in the bloodstream until the person dies, or the antidote is taken." Griphook said, while snapping his fingers as another goblin entered with a single phial with a clear liquid inside it. "This is the antidote Harry; I suggest you take it here and now, so the potion does not have a chance to activate." Harry downed the glass and immediately felt his eyes droop. He caught himself as he almost fell forward onto the floor, his eyelids beginning to close.

Harry woke almost an hour after he had taken the potion and his mind felt incredibly free. No, seemingly unnoticed, burden on his mind. He quickly heard the door open as Griphook entered the room again. "Harry, I think it would be best of you were to carry out the other two rituals today as well, just so that you can return to what should have been normal. I also have one more thing to discuss with you before you leave, but it must be done just before you leave, otherwise it will become null and void." His face broke into a feral grin, as he looked off into the distance.

Harry agreed to the other two rituals, so get rid of the soul fragment, which apparently did not have as strong a hold on its container. So, the extraction and destruction of the fragment was significantly easier. Harry sat as the goblins wrote through the air around him, weaving complex patterns, which eventually lead onto this face, past his eyebrows, and then surrounded his scar. Suddenly, from the back of the chamber, chanting began. Harry screamed as the soul was lifted forcibly from his scar and piled into a white ash on the floor next to him. It stopped just as abruptly as it started, and Harry found himself panting as he climbed off his back and walked out of the chamber, to cool off.

The bond release ritual only required a Goblin and another willing participant of another race. Harry immediately called "Dobby,"

"What can Dobby do for Mr. Harry Potter Sir today?" he asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement. "Hello Dobby," Harry said kindly "Could you just follow the instructions Griphook gives you and that'll be all?"

"Yes. Yes of course Mr. Harry Potter Sir. Dobby will do so, and if he does it wrong he will feed himself to the dragon that protects the vaults!" Dobby squealed in delight. "No!" Harry said, "You will not punish yourself because of me again Dobby! Is that clear?" Dobby nodded slowly. _Bloody Hell; Dragons, you must be crazy to try and rob this place. _He thought to himself absently. This ritual was far less painful than the other, considering he hadn't been screaming out in pain, but winced at the high tension strings that seemed to surround his chest were removed. Once the Ritual was complete Dobby popped away and Griphook escorted Harry back to his office.

He turned to Harry once more. "Now, I'd assume you want to know about the last thing I want to talk to you about." When Harry nodded eagerly, his feral grin once again ruled his, usually carefully schooled features. "What do you know about Wizarding Law Mr- Harry? But most specifically… Emancipation." He said as he cackled lightly.

Harry returned to the Dursleys at around 2PM. Wondering how the Goblins managed to be so efficient and so lazy at the same time, before he came up with his answer. _Magic_ he said to himself with a slight chuckle. He sat down and began to read once more, finishing both Charms and Herbology, before turning in for the night. _The Goblins really have done a number on me _he groused. _Ah well nothing to do about it now _he said as he lay back to sleep. It truly would be a wonderful Holiday to come, as well as a nice few years of relative peace.

A/N: Thanks to all those who have shown their support, as a reward this chapter came up early! This Chapter will have answered a few questions that you may have had, from the last chapter. Next up will be the OWLS ( and school surprises), Ron, Hermione, Last of the Goblins help and we get away scot free chapters. Wondering about Emancipation? Did he go through with it? Did he decide he wasn't responsible enough? Why is he so happy right now? Stay tuned to find out! Anyways Reviews and PMs are helpful. I'm open to Ideas so…yeah, if I like it I'll try and include it (if it's plausible). It's 2AM right now so I'm really dead oh well. I guess that's life **shrugs shoulders** ;)

Me out!


	3. The Brand New OWL

Disclaimer:

British? Yes

Female? No

Mind Bogglingly Rich? I wish!

Probability of being JK Rowling? 1%

I don't own anything but the plot

Chapter 3: The Brand New OWL

The 30th of July dawned bright and loud. The knocking of a beak woke Harry from his slumber. Groggily looking for the source of the noise before his eyes fell upon the window.

A handsome tawny owl sat upon the window sill. Its dark brown eyes boring holes into the young Potter. Harry hesitantly opened the window and allowed the owl to fly through. Looking at the neat script his mind flashed to the conversation he had with the goblins about his results and what they meant for the rest of his life.

Slitting the thick parchment envelope open he extracted the letters out.

_Mr Potter,_

_We, at the ministry have decided that the OWL and NEWT systems have led to complacency in the students and a drop in the quality of ministry workers. As such we have decided to implement an updated system in the marking and grading of the OWL exams for this year and the NEWTs for two years time. The number of fail grades has also increased with time, as a result we have implemented a negative deduction system that will detract from the OWLs and NEWTs you will recieve in the future. He hope this will encourage you students to place more effort into your studies. As this is the first year we have decided to lessen the deduction to only the lowest fail grade. We hope you agree with the changes implemented and will bear with us for discrepancies as we implement the system._

_The new grading system takes both the grade awarded as a part of the number of OWLs awarded. By doing so we believe that those trying to pass the system with only Acceptable grades will obtain jobs that are more suited to them._

_The following grades are seen as Fail Grades:_

_Poor - 0 OWLs awarded (will be -1 OWLs awarded)_

_Dreadful - 0 OWLs awarded (will be -2 OWL awarded)_

_Troll - -0.5 OWLs awarded (will be -3 OWLs awarded)_

_Pass Grades_

_Acceptable - 1 OWL awarded (no change)_

_Exceeds Expectations - 2 OWLs awarded (no change)_

_Outstanding - 3 OWLs awarded (no change)_

_Hope you have attained the grades you wanted._

_Madam Sarah Crowe_

_Head of Magical Education and Examinations_

Reading the letter left Harry very ssurprised at the new changes brought in by the ministry of magic that actually made sense. After his moment of musing Harry turned to the second letter in his post-exam pack, which was much shorter.

_Mr Potter,_

_After careful cconsideration and consulting the examiners involved we have decided to award you with special consideration regarding your History of Magic (Theory) and Astronomy (Practical) examinations._

_Hope you are now doing well and receive the results you deserve._

_Louis Crowe_

_Deputy Head of __Magical Education and Examinations_

SSeeing this Harry breathed out a sigh of relief, thinking back to those exams that had gone so terribly, fainting in the History exam and the fact that Hagrid was forced to flee from the grounds and Professor McGonagall was downed trying to stop the ministry officials taking him during the Astronomy exam led to it being abandoned.

Finally he reached into the envelope and retrieved the final letter.

_Mr Harry James Potter has achieved the following pertaining to his Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations._

_Astronomy(*) - E - 2 OWLs awarded_

_Care about f Magical Creatures - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Charms - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Divination - A - 1 OWL awarded_

_Herbology - E - 2 OWLs awarded_

_History of Magic(*) - E - 2 OWLs awarded_

_Potions - E - 2 OWLs awarded_

_Transfiguration - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Total OWLs awarded: 21_

Harry sat back in his bed, and began breathing again. He had done it, he passed all his exams not even dropped below and E (in the exams that mattered anyway). Suddenly it hit him. He now fully qualified for emancipation.

_****Flashback****_

**"There are 3 options in front of you Mr. Potter, first you can remain unemancipated and will have restricted access to your account until you turn 17, second you can become emancipated now, however this can be over turned easily and we can be sure the headmaster will overturn this decision as soon as it enters the courts. Finally, you can wait until you receive your OWL results in 3 weeks time. Once this is received your emancipation will be unquestionable, providing you do not fail any examination. Doing so will mean the emancipation board will see you are able to look after yourself and there is no reason for you to not be legally emancipated." Griphook stated from the legal guide Gringotts managed to obtain.**

**"There must be some other catch to that last one" the young Potter stated after repeating the text in his mind. "Indeed you are a sharp one Mr. Potter, should you fail any exam you will be barred from becoming emancipated completely." The aged goblin replied.**

**"Damn there's always something isn't there," he cursed under his breath. "Fine, we'll wait for the results to come, if I've failed then... I guess there's nothing doing." He declared before standing and leaving the meeting room in a flash of light.**

_****End Flashback****_

_That's the emancipation in the bag then_, Harry though quietly to himself sometime after he processed it in his head. Before retrieving his well used portkey, possibly for the last time in a while, and once more disappearing in a swirl of light.

The morning in Crawley dawned bright as the birds began their chirping. Hermione Granger sat at her table conversing with her parents when a lot tapping at the kitchen window drew the attention of all those present.

Hermione let out a shriek of delight as she realised what the owl signified.

The first letter from the department was the changes to the OWL system, that everyone received, she also received a second letter for special consideration, though only for Astronomy.

Picking up the third and final letter she read.

_Ms Hermione Jean Granger has achieved the following pertaining to her Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations._

_Ancient Runes __\- O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Arithmancy - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Astronomy(*) - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Care of Magical Creatures - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Charms - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Herbology - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_History of Magic - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Potions - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Transfiguration - O - 3 OWLs awarded_

_Total OWLs awarded: 30_

"30," Hermione breathed as she finished the long letter detailing her accomplishments before squealing in delight and hugging her parents.

Ronald Weasley bolted upright to his mother's unimitiable screech as she called him down for breakfast. Ron complied with his overbearing mother and trooped down from his room at the top of the Burrow.

Sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow was always an affair with the stacks of food added with the monstrous appetite of one Ronald Weasley. This morning started no different than any other, Ron stumbled through the door, half asleep and began loading his plate, once there was no room physically available, he would begin shoving the food in his mouth and swallowing whole, much like a snake, before helping himself to seconds and then thirds. Halfway through his fourth helpings, a tap on the window sounded loud and clear as the window was slid open and the owl flew through. Ron stared dumbfounded, he couldn't tell from whom the owl came. So he picked the envelope bfrom the owl and it flew from the scene of total culinary devastation. Ron only received two pieces of parchment, one detailing the changes to the OWL system and his results card.

_Mr Ronald Bilius Weasley has __achieved the following pertaining to his Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations._

_Astronomy - A - 1 OWL awarded_

_Care about Magical Creatures - A - 1 OWL awarded_

_Charms - E - 2 OWLs awarded_

_Defence Against the Dark Arts - A - 1 OWL awarded_

_Divination - D - 1 OWL awarded_

_Herbology - A - 2 OWLs awarded_

_History of Magic - T - -0.5 OWLs awarded_

_Potions - A - 1 OWL awarded_

_Transfiguration - A - 1 OWL awarded_

_Total OWLs awarded: 9.5_

Ron sighed in relief. _Harry can't have done much better than me. He probably got a T in Potions as well as History. _He mused to himself before laying the sheets of parchment on the table and hefting his broom over his shoulder, and heading into the orchard for some pickup quiddich. _Oh it gonna be a... Wonderful day! _he whistled as he sauntered off forgetting any problems that may have been associated with his complete lack of achievement.

"Well then Mr. Potter, it seems everything is in order. Congratulations." The feral grin once more ruled over the face of the aged goblin. Harry Potter stood as a man in the wizarding world for the first time, and it felt good. "Finally, we must award you your house ring, making you Lord Potter in the wizarding world. Because of your... Delicate situation concerning love potions, we have seen fit to embed a detection charm that will show you what foods have the potion you have been taking and, if enough is taken show you to whom the potion is keyed. We hope you don't see this as we goblins taking liberties, Lord Potter" Griphook trailed off as he thought he had a beheading heading in his direction. "Good Lord no! Anything that can help me is appreciated my friend-" Harry stopped abruptly at the stunned look on Griphook's face, "What?"

"You just called me friend..." Griphook replied cautiously. "No wizard has done that in centuries, your parents were more courteous, yes. But to be called friend is almost unprecedented, Lord-"

"Harry," the Potter interrupted smoothly. "And is there something like that portkey you gave me to get here, but can work for many locations?"

"Why yes Lor- Harry," Griphook replied with a stutter, "but it will be costing you now, since you are an adult, those rules of our society now apply. It will cost 50 galleons to buy, and another 30 to attach it to your ring."

Pulling out the money, Harry handed it to his account manager, before receiving his ring, it was a simple ring, with a lone ruby ensconced in the band of gold, with the word Potter stamped on the bottom of the ring, looking much like the type on the back of his uniform. Harry then asked how to use the two magiks embedded in the ring.

"To shift, as we goblins call it, you must rub the ruby, while thinking or saying a name or location, and the ring will shift itself and you to said person or location. To activate the potion detector, you need only rub the lower half of the ring for it to show you what potions are present in the dishes you are being served."

With that, Harry stood and bade the goblin a fond goodbye, before rubbing the top if the, now invisible, Potter family ring and appeared back at Privet Drive. _Oh it gonna be a... Wonderful day! _He thought merrily as he looked around his once dingy room and envisioned the life he was going to have, not even two days from now.

A/N: Well, back again eh? And there are still several chapters to write (shields to collect) ((5 house points to anyone who can tell me where that's from)) so chapter 3 after so long! I'm afraid exams stopped me from writing for far too long and I'm not even at home so I can't use my computer! :'( but I'll make do for now (you may notice mistakes throughout this chapter). You may be thinking I made Harry get marks that were too high in his OWLs but let's face it he wasn't that bad at magic. Speaking of which, what did you think of the new OWL system I devised? Good? Bad? Non-sensical? Hermione is... Well Hermione there's no way she didn't get all Os in the OWLs. You may think I'm being very harsh on Ron, but let's face it, the guy was a slouch and wouldn't been able to do those exams on his own! So emancipation has been taken and the stage is almost set to return to Hogwarts for their 6th year. One more chapter should see us through. Anyway, next time the Dursley will be dealt with and straightened out, the Harry will be making a planned (crazy I know right) visit, and the trio will meet for school supplies as well as school surprises and Harry will have done some... work at the ministry... That's all I'm saying. Stay tuned!

Edit 1: Many thanks to BMS for mentioning Hermione's missing herbology grade, now amended

Like it? Lump it? Love to hate it? Or hate that you love it? Whatever you maybe doing, leave a review it helps and is appreciated!

Me out!


	4. Revolution

Disclaimer:

British? Yes

Female? No

Mind Bogglingly Rich? I wish!

Probability of being JK Rowling? 1%

I don't own anything but the plot and maybe a few characters along the way

Chapter 4: Revolution

The young Potter began the day after his emancipation by summoning his glasses from his bedside table; reveling in the freedom he now possessed. He once again read his OWL results that made his life as full as it was now. But today… today would mark the death of the old Harry Potter that seemed to be relatively easy to walk over and take control of, and it started with the Dursleys.

Walking downstairs, Harry decided that he had enough of the crap the Dursleys had thrown at him. So, instead of cooking their breakfast, he sat at the table and waited patiently the band of gorillas that were his uncle and cousin and his ostrich of an aunt. When his flesh and blood finally lumbered down to the empty table, they became their well-known maelstrom of abuse and directed their whole force unto the Potter, for all they were worth.

"Enough!" Harry shouted, unknowingly lacing his voice with magic and sending sparks of electricity through the air around him. His voice darkened as he spoke, "For as long as I lived here you have treated me as your own personal slave. I made you meals, I tended your garden, I took your beatings, and I made sure to stay out of your way but even so you seemed to go out of your way to make sure I was in the way. But that's all gonna change." He finished, quickly drawing his wand and pointing the business end towards his primary tormentors. "Go ahead boy" Vernon spat, "I'd love to see you expelled from that freak show you call a school!"

"Well let's just see that in action, shall we?" Harry returned smugly before making himself a cup of tea using only levitation and then summoning it with a simple accio. They all sat around the table, Dudley and Petunia twitching at every sound that might be an owl delivering a letter, while Harry and Vernon were engaged in a staring contest, both looking equally smug, though it was only Harry that took the occasional sip from his mug of tea. Soon enough, Vernon had joined his wife and son in looking for that godforsaken owl. Yet it never seemed to be coming. "Well I think that settles that, doesn't it Vernon? Now, there are going to be a few changes around here, and they're all going to be very pleasant for me, but not so pleasant for you… though I will say, this will be the last summer you need to 'look after' me because I will not be coming back here… ever. Now, first I will be leaving the house as and when I please; it is about time I visited a friend's house without them having to forcibly take me from your hands. Second, Hedwig is allowed to come and go as she pleases; you can and will do nothing to change that. I will no longer do any of your chores. Enough said. And I will be allowed to use the phone, TV and computer when the fancy hits me, disregarding whomever might be using these appliances at the time, and one last thing, I will not follow the diet required to make a baby killer whale lose all its body mass. Are we clear?" His eyes burning fiercely, forcing them to nod meekly "Now, I have a phone call to make, and after that possibly a friend to visit." He said jauntily as he sauntered toward the phone and dialing the number for one Hermione Granger.

The bushy haired witch in question was seated upon the couch in her home, reading a book while her parents were out at their practice. When the phone started ringing she started, before going to pick it up. As she did so, the unimitabe voice of one Harry James Potter was sent clear down the line to her ear. "Errr is this Hermione?" At the question she squealed in excitement "Harry! How are you? Why didn't you reply to my letter? Are the Dursleys still making your life hell? Are you ok?" She rattled off before the Potter could get a single word in. "Hermione!" He shouted as his friend went off on one, "I'm ok! But I want to explain some more. How about we meet up tomorrow and I'll explain everything?"

"Ok Harry, you've got it. I suppose you've got a way to get here since you must know my parents will both be at the practice all day?"

"Oh don't worry, I've got something in mind" he said, while Hermione could almost imagine his smirk. With that both teens went about their daily business, which was now absolutely nothing for Harry.

The next day Hermione left the house, book in hand, to sit outside under the tree in the hope of surprising her friend as he arrived. Though this was not to be as she heard the loud screech that could only be the trio of terrorisers Hermione knew from her primary school. lo and behold, across the crescent of the hill came Lucy Spence, Claudette Mcdonald and Lisa Lobo. "Well, well, well if it isn't mangey Granger, enjoying the sun mangey? Or maybe you're waiting for a friend from that boarding school of yours. Who would want to spend their free time with you mangey?"

"Well I'd assume that would be me. Wouldn't it?" A dark voice said from behind the tree at which Hermione sat. The shadow stepped into the light to reveal the form of Harry Potter. The three witches swooned, "Hey there, you're not from round here are you? How about we show you the town. That way you won't have to stick with ol' mangey Granger over here. What to you say?" Before winking and looking at the young wizard through half lidded eyes. "Well, I say you'd better scarper before I am forced to defend my friends honour," he said calmly but with a fierce look emanating from his emerald orbs. This look sent the girls packing and well away from the two warlocks.

"Shall we go inside then?" Hermione said briskly, not wanting to stay outside any longer. Harry nodded and followed her into her cream 3 bedroom detached home. As soon as they entered and closed the door Harry found himself engulfed in a hug that came close to breaking his back, though it only just stopped short of snapping his vertebrae. "Hermione. Need to breathe." Harry gasped out, which sent the witch retreating. "So... Shall I begin with my explanation?" A nod from Hermione sent him recounting the tales of the past few weeks. Beginning with the owl from Gringotts, and his change in mood, to his owl results, where Hermione briefly engulfed him again unpon hearing his achievement, and finally his emancipation. When the tale was done, Hermione sat back to process the information, before breathing a sigh of relief. "Well at least you aren't wallowing in self pity, eh?" She laughed nervously, drawing a laugh from Harry as well. "Actually I need some help Hermione; I contacted Sarah Crowe, y'know from the exams place, and asked if I could take the arithmancy OWL at the end of summer, and... Well... I was hoping you could... Y'know... Teach me?"

"Oh of course Harry- the end of this summer?! Harry we have so much work to do! I have to draw up a schedule. Where did I put all my old text books?-"

"Hermione calm down, we've got plenty of time, and I know your schedules always help but let's not try to go overboard, yeah?" Harry interrupted calmly. Hermione drew a deep breath and closed her eyes before opening them once again with excitement and rushing inside to locate all the necessary materials for the immense study session they had coming.

The first day seemed the hardest for Harry, starting to learn a whole new subject took him a little time to adjust to, however they soon settled into a routine which included Harry shifting daily to Hermione's house for a 3 hour study beginning at 9 in the morning the a 2 hour break followed by more study til 5 in the afternoon at which point they would just talk and Harry would then leave by 6. During these times the two teens got to know each other very well and were able to pick our certain habits the other had. And so the summer rolled on, studying and relaxing the main points of order. Almost too soon, Harry stepped into the ministry and made his way to the examination office on the 6th floor. He sat in the cold metal chair in front of the small wooden table. The examiner stepped into the room and placed a sheet of blank paper on the table saying, "The questions will appear as soon as I start the timer." No sooner had he said "You have 1 hour," and clicked the stopwatch did the questions appear. The questions didn't faze Harry as he raced through the paper with seeming ease, though the question about freezing charms had him flummoxed for the most amount of time.

An hour and a bit later Harry left the isolation room to make his way to the practicals area. Here he saw many people from Hogwarts, that stemmed to have failed one or more of their owls and were determined to do something about it. Advancing to the arithmancy area Harry decompiled the spell of his examiner to find the weaknesses in the casting and flow of magic through its medium. Leaving the exam cubicle and the building fairly happy that he hasn't failed, at least.

Despite the exam being over, Harry still went to Hermione's house and spent his days with the brightest witch, before returning to the Dursleys to spend his nights. The pair grew closer as friends, and now knew eachother well enough, their communication was almost telepathic, despite Hermione being faster than Harry, they were able to know what the other was thinking at the simple mention of a single word and then follow the though process through to end at the same result. At the beginning of their final week of holiday, the anticipated owl from the ministry arrived, stating Harry had attained yet another Exceeds Expectations, though in Arithmancy this time. "Well I guess we can't put school shopping off anymore," Harry said as he entered Hermione's house with the letter. Before stuffing it into his pocket and grabbing Hermione's hand and running his ring, sending then spinning into Diagon Alley. "Harry! That could've beef dangerous!" Hermione shrieked slapping him hard on the shoulder, "and I don't even have any money to buy my things!"

"Well then it's on me, you helped me with the exam so I treat you by buying your school supplies as well as anything you want from the aalley. How's about that?" Harry said trying to keep a straight face as Hermione began to boil over. But seeing his mind wouldn't be moved, she settled for a huff of annoyance, before starting into the alley.

"HARRY? HERMIONE?" a loud voice shouted above the rukus of the alley, and sure enough, there stood Ronald Weasley who invited them to the Leakey Cauldron, for food before shopping began.

Once ensconced in the tavern, Ron brought them both plates while balancing him own on his forearm. Harry surreptitiously rubbed his ring, once again seeing the pink glow of 'the potion' and following the trace that led off it he found a figure also glowing pink. It was in fact the outline of one Ginevra Molly Weasley. So he ate the plate of food knowing full well he was immune, watching the face of the Weasley at the table. The eyes he saw were filled with greed and jealousy. Not two traits that sat his long time friend well. Once again the Potter was happy to postpone judgement, despite the evidence of his eyes. Harry and Hermione left the bar and headed to Diagon alley once more and browsed the shops, buying as they pleased. Soon enough they finished and Harry shifted their purchases and their owners back home.

Two days before the Hogwarts express was due to leave, 8 tawny owls shot from the owlery of Hogwarts, heading to their respective targets. Announcing the new senior perfects for the coming year. In Little Whinging, an owl flew through the open window of the surprised Harry Potter, as he opened the letter with trepidation he soon found that the new he so wanted last year was finally his, his jealousy over Rons perfect position was short lived, but still remained, now here he was finally given the chance to be a perfect and he sure as hell wasn't going to mess it up. Another owl swooped into a window in Crawley, where Hermione Granger opened the letter and took the pin out and admired it for a second. I almost thought I had lost this last year she thought as she placed the pin on her table and left her room to relax under the tree in her back garden. Molly Weasley starred out of the window of her kitchen, Albus had said the perfect letters were going out today, so Ron's must be winging its way here she thought to herself. Though the owl never came. The thought that Ron had been dropped as a perfect made the Weasley matriarch's bleed boil. It seemed a howler was winging its way to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.

Finally September the 1st rolled around and the duo of Harry and Hermione spun onto the platform and faced the scarlet engine, basking in its magnificence for a moment, before boarding and finding an empty compartment. Ron joined then a short while later and the engine moved off. Destination: Hogwarts.

A/N: So, another one down! Harry seems to be an adequate arithmancer. That'll be the first and last we ever see of the Dursleys (I think). Harry is now a prefect, instead of Ron, since the dumbass didn't actually do anything in his 5th year that was even remotely prefectly. Harry and Hermione are closer and understand how the other acts naturally (remember that it will be important later). Next chapter, Hogwarts, changes, new teachers and a whole loada trouble! I'll try to update regularly but hey! No promises :)

Love it? Lump it? Love to hate? Or hate that you love? Whatever your personal twist is leave a review! I enjoy reading and responding to you guys and it really helps out! Any ideas you have, I'll try to incorporate, but I'm only one guy, so bear with me!

Me out!


	5. Settling In

Disclaimer:

British? Yes.

Female? Nope

Exrragantly rich? I wish!

Kk Rowling 1%

I own nothing but the plot and this new guy who youse lot are about to meet!

Chapter 5: Settling In

The trip to Hogwarts held no surprises for the trio as the scarlet steam engine rattled through the countryside. Malfoy, of course made his customary appearance but was swiftly knocked out of the compartment by the sheer force of magical pressure Harry pressed upon him. Soon enough Hermione, prefect badge pinned, left the compartment with Harry accompanying her, not sporting his own badge as of yet. Both entered the prefects carriage and so the meeting began.

_-1 hour later- _

The duo left the compartment returning to their own to find their trunks throughly rifled through and a red faced Weasley awaiting their return. "So, it's you then? You're the reason I'm not a prefect anymore? You couldn't let me have anything could you Potter? I should have known. And of course the great all-knowing Potter couldn't get below an A could he? If anyone deserves 'special consideration' it should be me! No wonder you got so high, I'm surprised you can shit with how far the ministry is up your are, Potter." he spat before gathering his trunk, broom and some sweets off the bench Harry and Hermione were sitting at and stormed off, go find more _acceptable _company.

_-Hogwarts Castle-_

The thestral led carriages trundled through the mud, squelching and rocking every so often. Neither Harry nor Hermione saw Ron after his abrupt departure from the compartment, however Pig was seen shooting past the train almost half an hour after. After the short walk to Hogwarts Castle, the two prefects sat together reveling in the term of studying they had ahead of them. Once again, the sorting hat sangria his newest rendition of the term 'song' and the sorting passed. Dumbledore then stood up to make his yearly beginning address.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts, I know you must all be hungry so I won't keep you much longer, but I would like to say a few words, dark times may be upon us, and we must all band together to fight for what is right!" his propaganda over, he was forcefully reminded of his actual duties as headmaster, by a forceful kick in the shins from Professor McGonagall. "Also, welcoming our newest teacher, to take up the Defence Against the Dark Arts post, Professor Ramond Smith."

Once again, the aged professor waved his hand and platters of food appeared in the hall. Harry, customarily rubbed his ring, checking for the potion he knew his food would be spiked with love potion. To his surprise, he seemed to be getting some interference from something nearby. Harry let it fade, and dug in, knowing his immunity would be his keeper. The night wore on, old friends catching up on summer stories, before finally, "Prefects, please lead your respective houses to their dorms." before long, the Slytherins moved off toward the dungeons, with Malfoy at their head. The Hufflepuffs walked to the 3rd floor, with Hannah Abbot at the head, Ravenclaw moved towards their tower with Terry Boot leading their march, finally the Gryffindores set off to their own tower, Harry leading the sea of the smaller students. "Speactur Montis" Harry spoke to the portrait of the fat lady, and she swing open allowing passage to the Gryffindores. Harry bade Hermione a good night before tracking up his own stairs to the sixth year boys dormitory.

The tension that greeted Harry inside was almost palpable, and it was coming from a very well known source. "What do you want Ron?" Harry questioned in an impatient and bored tone, he had no time to pander to Ron's childishness. Ron, of course was the epitome of childishness and turned onto his side and pretended to be asleep. _He'll get his soon enough _was the last thought that ran through the redheads mind before he drifted into his own world.

_-The next morning-_

Most students rushed to the great Hall, hoping to catch the early morning breakfast rush and get their timetables quickly before beginning a, hopefully, successful year. Harry and Hermione were among these few, and procured their timetables from McGonagall before sitting down to eat. "Double defense first, eh?" Harry asked, only for Hermione to nod. Both began partaking of their breakfast. They decided the library could wait, considering the fact that the year hadn't even begun yet. The two sat at the table, simply taking in the atmosphere and ruckus that was Hogwarts. 5 minutes before lessons were due to begin, the walking food disposal Weasley sauntered into the hall, scruffy dressed and it smelled as though he hadn't though to shower before be breaking fast. It was he, for whom McGonagall had to walk down the entire Gryffindore table once again, to hand him the paper saying he only qualified for 2 subjects he, or most likely his mother, had applied for this year, stating he would have to take up Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination to be able to continue studying at all. "WHAT?" Ron screamed, wildly floundering at why he was being forced to take Divination while others could drop it. Of course, Harry and Hermione had been amused at Ron's predicament, yet the time for classes was upon them, so they stood to leave, trying as they might to avoid the bottleneck of the Great Hall doors, this however didn't go quite to plan as many others tried to do the same thing, resulting in the bottleneck anyway.

Defence was easily Harry's best subject, Professor Smith was definitely a competitor for best DADA teacher Hogwarts had seen recently, considering he knew his stuff and had spent many years abroad, much like Lockhart claimed to do, but y'know he actually did it. The lesson was also running pleasantly, until a certain red faced, red-haired Weasley stepped into the classroom, evidently having lost his argument with McGonagall. At the time the rest of the class had been doing reflex tests. With Professor Smith firing various low to medium level jinxes and hexes their way. Ron entering the classroom late prompted at jelly legs hex flying g in that particular direction and hitting him squarely in the chest. With jelly for legs, the boy fell flat on his face from his own momentum, before pushing himself up onto his elbows and trying to give everyone in the room earache. After that the class was very much on their toes and only two more students suffered the laughter of failure. The Professor though seemed extremely surprised and impressed when the Potter boy managed to deflect one of his spells with a small streak of lightning and not and actual spell, after a quick whisper with the Granger girl at his side, the next time he sent a spell her way, it simply seemed to dissipate into the air. "Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, a word if you please," he said as he set the homework and allowed the class to leave. "I'm not expert... Well actually I am, but I have reason to believe you are able to cast elemental magic, of course untrained this will eventually fade into nothing. However I would like to train you." The pair looked at each other, again communicating without speaking before, "Sorry sir, we'd like a bit of time before we can give you a definite answer."

"No worries young lad, come and speak to me when you're good and ready, aye?"

The day progressed fairly rapidly after that, the only hiccup being potions, where Snape baited the young Potter at every turn, yet Harry gave him no footing. Arithmancy seemed more interesting at the advanced level and even more difficult, yet the new logical side of Harry revelled in the challenge. Transfiguration also seemed to be a step up and Harry was feeling glad he'd recounted the topics before school started. Charms seemed to be like old times with Flitwick recounting what had been done up to OWL before assigning homework for the next day. That night as Harry fell asleep, his final thought was _'And it's only just beginning' _

A/N: I'm back! It's been a while, I've just been caught up on work and shizzle so here it is, chapter 5. Time to settle in for the long haul, winter is coming! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and there isn't much else to talk about :) Drop me a review or a Pm anytime and I'll respond(if I can) profanity filter is off as well, so feel free to make your reviews... Fruity ;)

Like it? Lump it? Love to hate it? Or hate that you love it? Whatever you maybe doing, drop me a review and let me know, I appreciate and love reading every single one!

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	6. The Beginning of Instruction

Disclaimer:

British? Yes.

Female? Nope

Extravagantly rich? I wish!

Probability if being Jk Rowling 1%

I own nothing but the plot!

Chapter 6: The Beginning of Instruction

September flew by for Harry and Hermione as they learned and began to spend more and more time together. The time they both spent in the library was formidable as they continued to tear through the content for the year. The youngest Weasleys, of course, weren't pleased with their new shared time. "Ginny…" Ron began to complain, "You told me you'd get Harry out of my way this year, so Hermione and I'd have some… time together remember?"

"Oh shut up Ron, I'm trying to figure out where the potion went wrong, it isn't affecting Harry at all!" _Maybe… just maybe I need to give him a bigger dose… And we'll feed Hermione some more potion as well. Looks like "just a nudge" wasn't enough for the bi-witch _she thought desperately _Maybe after the first Quidditch game, when emotions will be high, especially if Ron can actually do anything that game_.

_-Time Skip: One Week-_

"_**The Gryffindor house Quidditch team trials will be held this Saturday afternoon, all who wish to be on the team, please go to the Quidditch pitch at One PM."**_

Harry read the notice with interest, after the great upset last year after he'd been banned by their "great and powerful" High Inquisitor, he was itching to get back on a broom and feel the . Deciding, he would head down and try out.

_-Saturday-_

The time came and the hopefuls all trooped from the Gryffindor common room out onto the pitch. Hermione decided to tag along to watch Harry and the rest of their house compete for their spot.

Katie Bell had been named Quidditch captain and while nowhere near as Wood, she promised to be a fair captain and would do her best to lead the team to victory for Gryffindor. The Tryouts began with the Chasers. The hopefuls were split into groups and told to circle the pitch. Unfortunately, three of the nine hopefuls had a collision (…one with a wall…) leaving six to battle it out for the place of the two chasers. They were then asked to do quick passing and movement drills. This proved difficult for t the two fourth years that had come out to test their mettle. Leaving the 'final four'. Eventually, a draw had been called and they were split into twos and told to wait at the sides of the arena. The seeker tryout began next and Harry walked to the centre of the pitch and was joined by a seventh year named Cormac McLaggen and a fourth year who identified himself as Henry Spears. All three mounted their brooms and escaped into the skies. They played a game of tag, in doing so Harry saw that speed was Henry's forte due to his two year younger frame, while McLaggen definitely had more power on his side, due to his larger body, however his own agility seemed to outstrip the other two by leagues. In the end McLaggen was forced out of the competition as he simply couldn't keep up. His large size however gave Katie and idea "Hang around McLaggen, you should try out for the keepers, you seem to be a better build for them anyway." The contest of speed ended with no clear victor as Henry seemed to pull away in the straights while Harry was able to keep him to heel on the corners that were placed in the track. The whistle blew and Katie signaled the two to stop and join the chasers on the side. As soon as he landed, Ginny seemed to stick to him "Oh Harry you were amazing! I don't know what Katie was thinking making you both wait!" she cooed, hoping to get and appreciative look from her "one and only". Harry, however, looked at her with an unbelieving stare that bore into her eyes, "are you kidding Ginny, that kid absolutely demolished me in the straights, I only just managed to pull it back in the corners, that kids got potential, he could even be better than me! If you can't see that then maybe you don't know as much about Quidditch as you let on." he said, suppressing a smirk, knowing exactly what she was trying to do. The Beater trials were next on the agenda, there were two third years and a fifth year vying for the beater positions. Unfortunately, one of them underestimated the speed of the bludger heading towards him and ended his session with an incredibly sore arm, leaving the final Keeper choices, before the second rounds. The original three, including one Ronald Weasley, were joined by a rather down, yet still (somehow) arrogant McLaggen. Catching exercises were the name of the Keepers game, so balls of various sizes were tossed at various speeds to determine how quickly the potential keepers moved and how they chose to stop the ball, be it a deflect or a catch. Unfortunately, both Ron and Cormac were able to pull the game to a tie. "Alright everyone. Now that we've gotten this far, we'll be playing a game of Half Quidditch, each team will have two chasers, one beater, one keeper and one seeker. While you are in teams, you will be assessed on your individual ability and how well you can gel as a newly formed team. Choose your own teams. Quickly! We don't have all day!" she finished with a bark. Soon enough Harry was placed on a team with Ginny, Ron, one successful beater and another promising chaser. The players took their places and Katie released one bludger, the quaffle and a snitch. Immediately the game started, as the quaffle flew from chaser to chaser and Harry's team made ground, only to be informed that the beater on the other team was unforgivingly accurate with his bat, leading to Ginny gaining a bloody nose. The other teams chasers were sharp and lead with crisp passing making quick ground, somehow they were predicting the others moves and managed to pass the ball to where they knew their teammate was going to be. That combination lead to one against zero against Harry's team. Harry however, was more concerned with the snitch that had yet to show itself. Suddenly a flutter of gold was seen by Ron's foot. Harry rocketed towards it, intent on finishing the game early, making sure to keep out of the way of his teammates that seemed to be going for a charge, dodging the bludger, now they knew to be wary of it. Ginny seemed to now be on the wavelength of the chasers on the other team, and was able to stop them stealing the quaffle more than once, to rocket a ball past McLaggen. Henry seemed to float by as he saw the snitch a second after Harry. The two seekers raced towards the carrot topped keeper, he moved out of their way, and surprisingly, into the way of a quaffle, stopping the opposition from scoring once. The snitch however dived towards the ground forcing the competitors into a dive, both kept pace yet Harry knew if this kept up, Henry would pull ahead, he forced the old school broom he'd been given for the trial to go past its limit. At the last minute the snitch veered upwards and Harry reacted quicker of the two seekers and grabbed Victory with his hands.

"Alright ladies and gents, you've all played well and I can assure you that you all make, at least the backup team. As for our first team of players. Chasers are: myself, Ginevra Weasley and Corrie Atkinson. Beaters, have already been decided, our seeker will be Harry Potter and our keeper Ronald Weasley."

With that McLaggen burst out "What?! You're making him the keeper, after you asked me to stay back and waste my time! What's wrong with you Katie, you know if be way better than him!"

"McLaggen shut up before I rescind my decision to keep you there as a backup keeper as well." Katie started with fire in her eyes, "well done everyone, training will be every Saturday morning, 9 through 11."

_-5 minutes and a quick shower later-_

"Hey Henry!" Harry called as the younger seeker walked back to the Great Hall for a late lunch. "What's up err... Harry?" he said quietly. "I just wanted to say you're a great seeker and I wouldn't mind taking a couple of games off if you wanted to get a few games in. You nearly had me at that dive y'know. I'm sure you've got what it takes to be a great seeker."

"Well err.. Thanks Harry, it's I'd love to play one game this year!" he said excitedly. As they both said their goodbyes Hermione joined them. "Well done Harry, and err you were really good too... Err-"

"Henry," Harry quickly filled in. Henry smiled and nodded before leaving to grab his lunch.

Hermione then turned and said, "Harry, I think we should speak to Professor Smith about the elemental magic training. From what I've read, it's one of the most powerful magiks that are available to man. And if... If we can both do it I guess we'll stand a better chance against Voldemort." she finished almost stuttering over the wizards name, almost.

_-Professor Smith's office-_

The two sixth years knocked on the door to the professor of defence and were invited in jovially. Beyond the door, the room has been completely changed from the best pink office it was last year but was now black with books lining the majority of the walls and a few odd bits and bobs littering the floor. The table was also a complete cacophony of keys, letters, quills and black sinister looking instruments that made a click at irregular intervals. "Sir, we've decided to take you up on the elemental training. If.. If it's not too much trouble" Hermione started. "We'd like you to teach us all you know, so we can defend ourselves against volde-" seeing the look on his face, Harry quickly changed tack "you know who."

"Alright then," he said quietly, "let's begin. I will warm you now I'm not an easy going teacher when it comes to elementals, I expect you to be ready every lesson and to be ready to written hard everytime we meet. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," they both said, a fiery passion burning in their eyes.

"I myself am a fire and lightning elemental, my wife was a water and wind elemental. Harry it seems you have the aptitude for the fire element and have a natural affinity for lightning. Hermione, you seem to only have a natural affinity for wind at the moment but we'll see about discovering your second element, if you have one." he spoke quickly and with a no nonsense tone. "I will personally teach Harry his lightning manipulation as I have the element, but you Hermione will have to learn by yourself I'm afraid, I have my wife's old books, in sure she would want them to find their way to someone like you." he said as he liked various books from various shelves abs handing them to the teens. "Of course I'll still be able to help you learn the basics Hermione, all natural magiks stem from the same source anyway." he said almost absent-mindedly as he scours the shelves once more. "If you two are half as good as McGonagall says your are, you'll get this down in no time. And you'll be able to use basic elements for attack and defence with ease." he said smirking. "Now today's lesson will be in drawing out your power and using it to pierce a target." over the next hour Smith explained the base theory of elemental magic and how it was drawn on by wizards of old to combat enemies that seemed unsurpassable and situations that were linked with certain death. Both Harry and Hermione listened with rapt attention, before he explained how to draw the power out of the core and mate it tangible. Before giving a demonstration and encasing his hand in fire. He showed them the best strike points for each element before allowing his apprentices to try it for themselves. Harry took like a duck to water and within 5 minutes had his hand encased in electric blue lightning. Hermione however was having slight problems and was unable gather the element correctly, after seeing Harry complete it with such natural ease, she became slightly frustrated. Harry saw the signs of Hermione's frustration and took her aside after he'd finished his last collection and dispersion of lightning and explained how it felt for him, allowing Hermione copy him and much like in the lesson the week before, Hermione picked it up quickly after.

"Well you've picked that up just fine I see," Professor Smith said after seeing both Harry and Hermione lean on the wall and pulsate their elements. "Time to move onto the next stage, using it to attack."

He demonstrated the process with his fire attack onto a dummy. "Now, you give it a try." Both Harry and Hermione looked at the professor like he'd grown a third head _he expects us to do it straight away?_ They both thought. "Well how else are you going to learn?" he barked, as if reading their minds and leading them out into the classroom, before turning on his heel and entering his office again. After another hour of trying and failing the two of them managed to successfully strike their target and were dismissed.

Both teens were completely drained after the intense session of magic and decided to turn in. Their training had begun, and the game was on. Target: Voldemort.

**A/N: **Hey there guys! I'm not dead… yet… But yeah here's the latest chapter. I'll admit I had a severe case of writers block, but then this chapter decided to pop into my head and absolutely smash that block into pieces. Not much happening though, mainly filler until I can decide the real plot route, but hey you got to see Harry and Hermione training in their Elements. I won't abandon this story, and I will carry it to completion. At the moment I'm just writing in my free time… which I don't really have a lot of but I guess there's nothing I can do about that. I'll update as regularly as I can. You got some nice quidditch action this time, tell me how it is… it's my first time writing something like that so any suggestions you have would be… amazing. Anyone who knows where the title is form I will personally say, you are a truly awesome and amazing person! Drop me a review or a Pm anytime and I'll respond (if I can) profanity filter is off as well, so feel free to make your reviews... Fruity ;)

Like it? Lump it? Love to hate it? Or hate that you love it? Whatever you maybe doing, drop me a review and let me know, I appreciate and love reading every single one!

Me out!


	7. Small Changes, Big Differences, Someone

Disclaimer:

British? Yes.

Female? Nope

Extravagantly rich? I wish!

Probability of being Jk Rowling 1%

I own nothing but the plot!

Chapter 7: Small Changes, Big Differences, Someone Notices

Their first few weeks back at Hogwarts passed without much incident, discounting Snape's usual spiel and general dislike of Harry. Of course the young Potter hadn't been expecting to continue potions, so had to borrow one from the Snape, instantly giving Snape a reason to begin the hate train. '_Some things never change' _he sighed to himself.

_-Flashback First Potions Lesson of the Year-_

"Turn to the page on the Draught of Living Death, I expect a workable potion in an hour and a half. Go." Snape's callous voice droned. Harry turned to the offending page looking up and down it with interest. _"In reality this should only really take an hour_" he thought to himself as he looked through the instructions for the, supposedly, tricky potion. Grabbing the supplies from the cupboard he set to work chopping, crushing and slicing his ingredients, making sure to do all three variations to all his ingredients. His theoretical knowledge of potions had increased by magnitudes over the summer, but he had yet to test it out on actual potions. He then setup 3 small cauldrons around his workbench before combining different variations of his ingredients into his cauldrons. Fifteen minutes into the lesson, Snape began to prowl the classroom, pausing to sneer at a few pieces of work, most notably one Ronald Weasley, who despite his Acceptable had managed to enter the lesson, to the surprise of everyone bar Snape.

With his 3 cauldrons sizzling nicely, Harry looked at his potions book, noting the colour of each of the concoctions and disposing of two of them, focusing on the one which was closest to that of the book, he didn't need Snape thinking he was so bad he needed 3 cauldrons to make a single potion that required no additions of liquid bar some water. He also noted down what worked, scribbling in the book he was given.

Snape arrived at Harry's table, noting Hermione's speedy progress silently, before turning to Harry's potion ready for his sneer to come in with full force, instead with a small amount of surprise on his face, not making any comments he swooped back to his desk, beady eyes looking around the room.

Harry continued his potion, knowing that he now only had one shot in which he would be able to crack this potion. Following the instructions to the letter after his brief experimentation allowed him to finish in just over the hour mark but was by no means perfect, while Hermione had finished almost 10 minutes before with a potion that was almost the same as described in the book. Both simply took a sample from their cauldrons and placed them into unbreakable phials, presenting them at the teachers desk. Harry's potions "decided" to go for a meander with some persuasion from the spiteful potions master, though when the phial simply bounced from the floor without breaking Snape conceded and picked it up.

After they had finished Harry and Hermione talked quietly between themselves, not to disturb Ernie MacMillan with whom they shared a table. They began with trivial matters, more often than not started by Harry, like Quidditch, before more other topics took hold, most specifically, their elemental training. Potions ended uneventfully, the only blip in the lesson being Ronald melting his cauldron after taking his sample to Snape, by way of leaving the fire burning underneath.

-_End Flashback-_

From then Harry had taken to using a third of his free periods in the Room of Requirement to test what the difference in preparation would do for his potions, resulting in a fair few explosions, but yielding more information. This allowed him to avoid the potion master's wrath. By the time they first Quidditch match was to be held, Harry's advanced potion making had is good number of scribbles and notes on its pages. It was on his way to the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game that Harry found himself now briefly considering the past few weeks. There was almost always a constant presence of "the potion" at meal times, and the interference he got hadn't dissipated in any amount, coupled with Hermione acting stranger and stranger, her grades, while still high, were no where near what they were in years previous, nor at the start of this year. She also seemed to space out greatly while in DADA or in the Great Hall and in Potions. Harry feared the worst connecting the dots somewhat, so he had sent off to the goblins for an antidote, just in case, they had replied with haste of course and sent him another antidote.

The Gryffindor team walked out with the Ravenclaw team. Both sets of players shooting up into the air and circling the stadium of red and blue. Both teams then took positions on the field as Madam Hooch walked to the centre of the field, releasing the Bludgers and the Snitch, before hoisting the Quaffle. "I want a nice, clean game" she repeated, as she would normally at the start of any match.

The whistle blew. The Quaffle thrown into the air. Finally, the game had come to life. Gryffindor snagging the Quaffle as they rocketed toward the Ravenclaw hoops, the three chasers weaving and ducking, the Quaffle never being held for more than 10 seconds before a pass, using more unorthodox methods to keep the opposition chasers guessing, they made short work of the distance before making short work of the keeper also. 10-0. The Ravenclaw chasers made a play for a counterattack, swerving through Bludgers by only a hair's breadth before a deadly accurate Bludgers managed to hit the Quaffle and drop it into the waiting hands of one Katie Bell, who rocketed off topping the Gryffindor score up. 20-0. Neither Harry, nor Cho had seen the Snitch. Cho had planned to mark Harry through her own plan as captain, making sure he was always in her line of sight. Harry saw this out of the corner of his eye and smirked to himself lightly, before flattening himself against his broom and dropping faster than anyone could imagine, taking Cho with him as he descended, Cho knew she wasn't ever going to make the turn so careered away into a slight spin, while Harry neatly leveled off a foot away from the ground, a large grin finding it's way onto his face. Above him, Ravenclaw easily slipped three passed Ron, leaving them 10 down, despite many almost interceptions from the chasers and Bludgers from the chasers, and looked to be on the charge once again. Thankfully, a Bludger found it's mark this time and the ball was passed to Katie, allowing a level score. The charges and counters continued for another 15 minutes, before a sickening crunch was heard all around the stadium, before all the players turned to see Katie falling from her broom, blood rushing from her face and a Bludger continuing it's normal path. Immediately, Harry sped through the chaos as the two remaining chasers mounted a charge and a beater swung his bat to send the Bludger at the opposing side. Harry caught his captain just before he dropped to the floor. Carefully depositing her to Madam Pomfrey. The match continued badly for the Gryffindor team after that, with a chaser down, their charges were effectively out maneuvered resulting in another 10 goals going to Ravenclaw. Suddenly a glint of gold appeared at the feet of the Ravenclaw keeper, Harry saw no time to waste and broke, flat on his broom as Lee continued his slightly dejected commentary, not noticing Harry's charge, before the streak of red actually caught his attention by passing in front of his face, quickly followed by a slightly slower blue streak. Harry quickly weaved and dived as the Snitch did it's best to not be caught quickly dropping and rising with no real way to predict where it would go next. It then dropped steeply, pull8ng Harry and Cho into another dive, this time Cho tried to stay in the dive, while Harry pulled ahead recklessly. The Snitch abruptly stopped, trying to sneak under Harry's arm, but Harry quickly grabbed it out of the air before landing softly on the ground rasing the Snitch into the air, seeing Katie look it him from the Medical tent, standing shakily.

In the stands, Hermione was sitting massaging her head, while those around her were cheering their hearts out, in particular one Lavender Brown, as she looked at the Gryffindor keeper. Hermione was drawn to said girl as she called Ron's name out, but for the love of logic she couldn't figure out why.

-_Gryffindor common room-_

After the narrow victory, the lions returned to their den in high spirits, cheering for their team as they walked through. Lee managed to steal the microphone and announced the players as they entered and the beaters walked in after taking to the kitchen, seamlessly taking Fred and George's place in providing the food for the after party.

They party continued for another 20 minutes with most of the team in the centre, talking to their respective friends and occasionally mingling with others. All except Harry, who instead opted to sit in his favourite armchair, by the fire, joining Hermione who was reading, never one for overactive partying. Cat calls began ringing through the room as the two turned to find Lavender latched onto Ron, in the centre of the room. Harry turned back to find Hermione gone quickly turning again, he saw a brush of bushy hair squeeze through the crowd to the portrait hole. As he moved towards the exit to the common room, he saw Ginny walking up to him, intent in her eyes. Quickly saying he needed to get fresh air, Harry followed out of the portrait hole and quickly began to search the nearby classrooms. Finding her in the second unlocked room from the common room, he quietly entered and shut the door.

"Hermione," he said quietly, waiting for a response. She looked up at him, with confusing in her eyes, almost as if she didn't know herself anymore. Harry settled next to her on the table, "What's going on Hermione? You can tell me"

"I... I don't know Harry, it's like I... I can't stand to see someone with Ron, even though he's been an absolute arse to you and to some extent me this year. I don't know what's going on anymore Harry." she finished. Harry once again rubbed his ring, this time seeing a pink glow surrounding Hermione, and a small trace leading to the door, being which the lanky, hunched figure of Ronald Weasley could be seen, holding a hand behind him. "Here, drink this," Harry whispered, handing her the phial from the goblins. Trusting Harry, she downed the small crystal container and promptly slumped onto Harry's waiting shoulder. Deciding he didn't want to deal with Ron, he shifted to the other empty classroom he found, just as well as said Weasley decided to barge into the room, bringing a giggling Lavender with him, before a confused look appeared on his face and he left the room to return to the common room.

-_Headmaster's Office-_

A sudden spike in energy, akin to apparation alerting the headmaster to the small shift Harry had done, leading him to the empty classroom wand in hand, in which both teens were sitting, well, one was sitting the other sleeping. Entering he quickly whispered "Expelliarmus" before walking through the door, expecting the intruder to have fallen to his disarming spell. What he wasn't prepared for was a very small shield intercept the spell exactly reflecting the spell back at Dumbledore. With no time to mount a defence, the spell hit him squarely in the chest, sending his wand flying out of his grasp, allowing Harry to catch it easily. "I don't appreciate that Headmaster," Harry said calmly, twirling the Headmaster's wand in his hand(1).

"Aah you'll have to forgive me my dear boy, I was merely investigating a disturbance in this area. Might I enquire how you have the ability to apparate?," The aged professor asked in a grandfatherly tone, while probing Harry's surface thoughts with passive legilimancy, gleaning 'shifting' and 'goblins' from the forefront of the boy's mind. While Harry answered, "I don't know how to apparate, sir"

"Well, no matter, my dear boy. Though, I have been meaning to discuss something with you in regard to Voldemort. I'd like us to have some... Lessons on his past and why he is the way he is. I could even show you some advanced spell work," he though, not totally lying entirely; he didn't want to teach the boy any spells he could use in a fight, but removing a memory for a pensieve was truly advanced spell work. "Why exactly would we need to take lessons, plural, if you're just going to show me his past, sir? Surely we could do that in a single night?" Harry questioned, trying to keep himself from sounding sarcastic. "Well... Err we'll see Harry, my boy. If I can have my wand back, you can go ahead back to the Gryffindor common room. It seems as though Miss Granger is waking." Harry handed the wand back and quickly set about leading Hermione back to the common room, while she was murmuring, questioning what was going on. Dumbledore grasped the wand again, yet it didn't seem to feel right in his hand. He didn't connect with it, much like before he killed Grindelwald(2). Brushing it aside as just a side effect of the adrenalin leaving his body, he swept away back to his office, constructing anti-shift wards. '_It surely wouldn't do to allow Harry to shift like that' _he thought to himself, as he set the wards and allowed them to charge through the residual magical potential left by the students casting spells.

-_Gryffindor Common Room-_

Harry and Hermione entered the room again, finding it still packed from the celebration. The team had dispersed throughout the room, sitting comfortably with friends, on the floor or in chairs. The pair ensconced themselves in a quieter corner of the room, before Harry started to explain everything he left out over the summer, including the various rituals he went through and talking specifically about the love potions, to which Hermione was particularly ticked off about. It took a fair amount of force and a foot locking curse to stop Hermione storming off to pulverise the two remaining Weasleys left in Hogwarts. Soon enough she calmed down, in the knowledge she wouldn't fall for it again, nor would she look the fool. With that the two left for the library, finishing up on their homework, which only really consisted of reading each other's work, and critically eyeing them, mostly Hermione made changed to Harry's, though Harry did manage to correct a mistake or two in DADA. After which they packed away their things, and left for bed. Harry attempted shifting to their common room, yet found he was unable. Shrugging, he simply walked the way, enjoying the company Hermione brought, enjoying having the friend he had gotten to know back.

(1)- For those who know me, you know what I mean ;)

(2)- In this one, Dumbledore thinks the elder wand passes by death, so he killed Grindelwald

A/N: I am back! Not dead! Very much alive! Been very busy, so sorry for not updating... Been nothing busy and lazy but hey, this one is a long one! Of course many errors in many things, will probably revise all chapters soon, for stuffs. Again, don't expect regular updates as such, but... Eh you know my regular spiel. So, a match of Quidditch, Hermione is immune to the love potion, Harry is being a nice guy, Ron is... Well being Ron. Not much, but meh you get what you get. To the people who were talking about the OWL results that were wrong, it was intentional, it's a new system so there are bound to teething problems **couch** Windows 10 **couch** Anyways, drop me a review, I read each one and take your responses seriously... I even respond sometimes!

Like it? Lump it? Love to hate it? Or hate that you love it? Whatever you maybe doing, drop me a review and let me know, I appreciate and love reading every single one!

Me out!


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